Ricky and Billy had the opportunity to attend Day Camp at the Dinosaur Park. Their camps were on different days because of their different ages. Ricky’s camp lasted all day and he LOVED it. He talked non-stop about it the whole way home. They did this and saw that and made this and read that.
As I was walking Ricky out of the park, he saw one of his teachers and gave her a big hug. Then he told her that they needed to do all the same stuff when his brother Billy came back later in the week.
Billy’s camp was only a couple of hours, so I decided to turn that time into another field trip for the rest of us. Billy had heard so many good things from Ricky, he was rarin’ to go!
Billy’s camp started an hour before the park opened though, so we killed some time on the nearby walking trail. Grandmama came with us. It was fun looking at the river which was running high and fast! We had a good talk with Ricky about staying away and pointed out the sandbags and mud that showed where the river had flooded or where they anticipated it flooding more.
Once the park was open, Ricky was very excited to show us his favorite things. Upstairs there are “live dinosaurs” he said. So up we went. Rusty wasn’t quite sure what to think about them. There was a display with some robotic dinosaurs that moved and made noise. Downstairs we checked out a lot of dinosaur bones. Rusty made sure we knew what we were looking at by pointing and saying, “Dinosaur!” and “Whoa, nuther one!”
Outside we saw and heard more dinosaurs. The boys just had fun looking at it all. To Rusty, all the dinosaurs were “T-Rex!”
Ricky and I ran around a loop trail that we pretended was haunted. Tommy chilled in the stroller and wondered why he doesn’t get to go for more rides like this. Ricky and Rusty posed for some pictures.
After exploring the Dinosaur Park, there is a Dinosaur Playground for the kids. Grandmama and I found a shady bench to enjoy with Tommy while Ricky and Rusty played.
The boys hadn’t been playing long when Billy and his camp-mates came out to play. Ricky and Rusty followed and they all ended up at the other end of the playground. I gave up my shady bench to go and watch and Grandmama went to buy some postcards.
Billy really enjoyed his camp experience, too. Even a crash early in the day that resulted in a big band-aid on his knee didn’t sour the experience for him. He called all the kids his friends and he fully expects to go back next year!
When Billy’s camp was finished, we went to lunch at the Greenery Restaurant. The boys each got to pick a toy from the gift shop (hoping it would entertain them while we ate). The meal went fairly well … Billy fished ice cubes out of his glass, Rusty poked a hole in his cup with his straw almost immediately, Tommy kept more of his lunch on the table than on the floor. I ordered plain pasta for Tommy and gave a little to Rusty. He stuck one in his mouth and immediately took it back out, declaring loudly, “Nasty!”
After lunch, we wandered around the larger gift shop some more. The boys were getting bored when Ricky and Grandmama spotted a real cat that lives there. Suddenly that gift shop became a highlight of the trip!
On the way home, I asked if it was a good field trip … I got two thumbs up, one raised hand, and a snore from Tommy.